AvantGrand Hybrid Piano Takes Product of the Year Honors; Clavinova Continues String of Wins; Band & Orchestral Division Distinguished as Line of the Year

BUENA PARK, Calif.—The Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) magazine's Dealers' Choice Awards, voted on by the dealers who know the music product industry best, have once again bestowed three top awards to Yamaha. For the eleventh year in a row, a Yamaha product took the coveted Product of the Year category. This year, however, the AvantGrand hybrid piano displaced the Disklavier, which had swept the category in the previous ten years.

For the second straight year, the magazine bestowed Yamaha's Band & Orchestral Division with Product Line of the Year, which it also won in 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2003. For a staggering fifteenth time, the Clavinova took the top honor for Digital Keyboard of the Year (Home).

The AvantGrand Series of instruments delivers the tone and touch of a nine-foot Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano, without the tuning, cost or footprint of a comparable stringed instrument. The expanding family of AvantGrand products includes the compact and affordable N1 upright, the N2 upright and the acclaimed, flagship N3 hybrid grand piano. Earning raves from top concert artists such as Alexander Kobrin and Chick Corea, the N3 has likewise generated significant buzz among the country's hippest and savviest consumer technology media arbiters.

"Recognition of the AvantGrand, as well as our remarkable B&O line, and the Clavinova, validates our steadfast commitment to our dealers and customers," said Rick Young, Senior Vice President, Yamaha Corporation of America. "We deeply appreciate these honors, which will continue to inspire our products, people and services to set the industry standard."

Yamaha's Band & Orchestral Division manufactures some of the world's finest string, wind and percussion products in almost every category imaginable.

The most successful digital piano line in the United States, the Clavinova continues a remarkable string of wins, earning MMR's Dealers' Choice Award an unprecedented 15 times.

These award-winning instruments are featured in the pages of MMR's December issue. Awards will be presented to Yamaha executives in January 2012 at Winter NAMM, the music industry's preeminent trade show, held in Anaheim, California.